Top Techniques for Co-Creating Authentic Stories with Influencers
As authenticity continues to be the buzzword off and online, creating personal narratives for marketing initiatives is becoming increasingly important. The numbers back it up with Sprinklr reporting that 89% of customers value authentic content. So what does it mean to be authentic in influencer marketing? Audiences aren’t as interested in the story of how the brand was built anymore, instead, they want to know how it will relate to them, specifically through the voice of an influencer. Today we’re talking about ways to co-create content with influencers to achieve authentic marketing.
Encourage Influencer Personalities to Shine Through
It can be scary for brands to give an influencer the reins in promoting their brand but encouraging your influencers to be their most authentic selves will result in a successful co-creation. The influencer has built their own brand and audience through their personality, use this to your advantage by collaborating with the influencer when building your content strategy. Here are ways to connect with influencers during your campaign planning process.
Have a brainstorming session where you encourage the influencer to share ideas for the campaign on how to make the strategy more personal.
Discuss the potential of product collaboration with the influencer. According to Braineet, 61% of businesses said that co-creation leads to more successful products.
Plan an event with the influencer (this could be an online or in-person event) where both parties can showcase their most authentic selves and interact with their audience.
Gift a personalized product to the influencer for a deeper connection with the brand.
Before utilizing these tips, thoughtfully choose the influencers you want to co-create with to ensure the best outcome for the collaboration.
Craft the Story Around the Audience
When creating your campaign, you want to keep the audience in mind when crafting your strategy. What story is going to connect most with the audience? By combining the influencer’s personal story with how this product will better the life of the followers, the strongest narrative will organically bloom for your campaign. In a study by Hitachi Europe, 54% of businesses also say that co-creation improves social impact. This is possible by keeping the goal of connecting with your audience at the forefront of your strategy.
It’s important to ask the influencer about their audience as well. They know them on a personal level, they understand what their followers connect with and what they’re wanting in content. By learning about the audience, you can understand whether or not an embarrassing personal story would resonate with them or if something more inspiring would. Through this discussion, you can begin co-creating ideas about how this product can be related to the story.
If you’re having trouble finding a story for the audience, try drafting an option from the point of view of the follower. Imagine you are scrolling and this specific influencer pops up. Ask yourself these questions.
What are you anticipating to see in their content?
What kind of message are you hoping to hear?
What might deter you from continuing to follow this influencer because of an ad?
Putting yourself in the audience’s shoes will help you understand how to promote the product in the most authentic way possible.
Clear Communication is the Common Factor
All of these ideas circle back to the principle of having clear communication. Beginning every conversation with clear expectations and an openness to collaboration will create an environment where the influencer feels safe to be themselves. By providing guidelines, a clear outline of brand values, and a list of do’s and don'ts, will give the influencer the freedom to create without worry of doing the wrong thing. Having clear communication will also ease an anxiety the brand may be feeling in this new collaboration. Anything that your brand may be worried about should be clearly communicated so that everyone is on the same page and no one feels like there is anything to hide.
